Cleaning robot and method for controlling cleaning robot

ABSTRACT

A cleaning robot includes a user interface to display a map image including one or more divided regions, and the user interface displays an icon corresponding to a state value of a main device on the map image.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 16/061,262,which is the 371 National Stage of International Application No.PCT/KR2016/015379, filed Dec. 28, 2016, which claims priority to KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2015-0187427, filed Dec. 28, 2015 and KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2016-0026295, filed Mar. 4, 2016, thedisclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The present disclosure relates to a cleaning robot and a method ofcontrolling the same.

2. Description of Related Art

A cleaning robot is an apparatus that automatically cleans a space to becleaned by suctioning foreign substances such as dust accumulated on afloor while traveling the space to be cleaned without a user'smanipulation. That is, the cleaning robot cleans the space to be cleanedwhile traveling the space to be cleaned.

Conventionally, a cleaning robot performs a traveling function and acleaning function in a region to be cleaned in accordance with the usercommand. However, since the cleaning robot directly moves or performscleaning from merely receiving the user command, it is not possible forthe user to check a state of the cleaning robot.

Conventionally, in a case in which a user wishes a specific positionwithin a space to be cleaned to be cleaned first, the user has todirectly check a position of a cleaning robot and move the cleaningrobot to the specific position using a remote controller.

SUMMARY

It is an aspect of the present disclosure to provide a cleaning robotcapable of intuitively displaying a state of a cleaning robot andchanges in the state thereof, and a method of controlling the cleaningrobot.

It is another aspect of the present disclosure to provide a cleaningrobot capable of providing a user interface (UI) corresponding to a usercommand, and a method of controlling the cleaning robot.

It is still another aspect of the present disclosure to provide acleaning robot capable of, in a divided region of an actual space to becleaned that corresponds to a divided region of a virtual space to becleaned that is selected by a user, completely cleaning an empty spacewithin the divided region even when variations occur in the arrangementof obstacles within the divided region, and a method of controlling thecleaning robot.

In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a cleaningrobot includes a user interface to display a map image including one ormore divided regions, and the user interface displays an iconcorresponding to a state value of a main device on the map image.

The state value may include any one of a first state value whichindicates that the main device is performing cleaning, a second statevalue which indicates that the main device has completed cleaning, and athird state value which indicates that an error has occurred.

The cleaning robot may further include a controller to control the maindevice to travel or perform cleaning, and the user interface may receivea user command; and the controller may control the main device on thebasis of the user command.

The user interface may receive a command to designate at least onedivided region, and may change an outline display attribute of the atleast one designated divided region.

In a case in which the user interface may receive the command todesignate at least one divided region, the user interface may change anoutline color or an outline thickness of the at least one designateddivided region.

In a case in which the main device is traveling, the user interfacedisplays a translucent layer over the map image.

In a case in which the main device is traveling, the user interface maydisplay an animation which indicates that the main device is traveling.

The user interface may further display a message corresponding to thestate value of the main device.

The user interface may receive a command to designate at least onedivided region and may change a name display attribute of the at leastone designated divided region.

The cleaning robot may further include a controller to set a targetpoint within the divided region, set a virtual wall on the map image,and control the main device to perform cleaning from the target point.

The cleaning robot may further include a storage unit to store the mapimage, and a controller to set a target point within the divided region,set a virtual wall on the map image, and control the main device toperform cleaning from the target point.

The storage unit may include information on a region dividing pointcorresponding to each divided region, and the controller may set thevirtual wall at the region dividing point.

The cleaning robot may further include a driving wheel driver to controldriving of a wheel and a main brush driver to control driving of a mainbrush unit, and the controller may control the driving wheel driver toallow the main device to move to the target point, and control the mainbrush driver to perform cleaning from the target point.

The cleaning robot may further include a main device sensor unit, andthe main device sensor unit may match a position of the main device withthe map image based on position information generated by the main devicesensor unit.

The user interface may receive a selection of the divided region from auser; and the controller may set the target point within the dividedregion selected by the user.

The controller may set at least one of a central point of a dividedregion, a point farthest from surrounding obstacles within the dividedregion, and another point that is present within the divided regionselected by the user from the map image and the closest to the currentposition of the main device as the target point.

The controller may set a virtual region on the map image.

The user interface may receive a command to designate a virtual regionform the user.

The controller may control the main device to perform cleaning withinthe virtual region.

The controller may control the main device to perform cleaning outsidethe virtual region.

The user interface may receive a selection about whether the main deviceperform cleaning within the virtual region or the outside the virtualregion from the user.

The virtual area may include a space in a virtual wall forming a closedloop.

The controller may set a movement path from the current position of themain device to the target point, and move the main device along themovement path.

The controller may set the virtual wall when the main device is locatedat the target point.

The controller may control the main device to perform autonomoustraveling from the target point, and restrict entry of the main deviceinto the virtual wall.

The controller may set a cleaning order for at least one of the dividedregions, and move, when the main device completes cleaning for one ofthe divided areas, the main device to a next divided area

When the main device completes cleaning for the one of the dividedareas, the controller may remove the virtual wall and move the maindevice to the next divided area.

The controller may set the target point of the next divided area andmove the main device to the target point of the next divided area.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a method ofcontrolling a cleaning robot includes displaying a map image includingone or more divided regions; and displaying an icon corresponding to astate value of a main device on the map image.

The method may further include setting a target point within the dividedregion; setting a virtual wall on the map image; and performing cleaningfrom the target point.

According to the above-described cleaning robot and method ofcontrolling the cleaning robot, since a user can intuitively recognize astate of the cleaning robot or changes in the state thereof from a mapimage, an error in the user's recognition of the state of the cleaningrobot can be reduced.

Further, according to the above-described cleaning robot and method ofcontrolling the cleaning robot, by a user recognizing a state of thecleaning robot from a map image, the user can control the cleaning robotin various ways through a user interface (UI) on the basis of stateinformation of the cleaning robot.

Further, according to the above-described cleaning robot and method ofcontrolling the cleaning robot, by a virtual wall being set around adivided region selected from a map image, a main device can be blockedfrom entering a space outside the virtual wall.

Further, according to the above-described cleaning robot and method ofcontrolling the cleaning robot, by a target point of a main device beingset within a divided region selected from a map image and cleaning beingstarted after the main device is first moved to the set target point, auser can complete cleaning in an actual region intended by the user evenin a case in which the divided region displayed on the map image doesnot exactly correspond to the actual area.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exterior view of a cleaning robot.

FIG. 2A is a bottom view of a main device according to one embodiment,and FIG. 2B is an interior view of the main device according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control configuration of the cleaningrobot.

FIG. 4A is a control block diagram of a communication unit according toone embodiment.

FIG. 4B is a control block diagram of a communication unit according toanother embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary view of a home screen of a remote device UI.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary view of a menu selection screen of the remotedevice UI.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary view of a map image displayed by the remotedevice UI of the cleaning robot according to one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary view of a map image displayed by the remotedevice UI of the cleaning robot according to another embodiment.

FIGS. 9 to 16 are conceptual diagrams for describing processes in whichthe user commands cleaning operations of the cleaning robot on the basisof a map image displayed by the remote device UI of the cleaning robotand screens output by the remote device UI in accordance with usercommands or states of the main device according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 17 and 18 are conceptual views of screens of a UI according toanother embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a conceptual diagram of a screen through which commands forspecifying and designating a plurality of divided regions and a cleaningorder of the plurality of divided regions are received.

FIG. 20 is a detailed control block diagram of the main device accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a control block diagram of a virtual wall setter, a virtualregion setter.

FIGS. 22 and 23 are exemplary views for describing a method of setting amovement path of a main device set by a movement path generator and atarget point of the main device.

FIG. 24 is an exemplary view of a virtual wall set by a virtual wallsetter.

FIG. 25 is a view for describing a process in which a main deviceperforms cleaning in a divided region of an actual space to be cleanedin a case in which the virtual wall is set.

FIGS. 26 and 27 are exemplary views of a virtual region set by a virtualregion setter automatically or manually.

FIG. 28 is an exemplary view of a plurality of virtual walls set inaccordance with a user command.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart of a method of controlling the cleaning robotaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart of a method of controlling the cleaning robotaccording to another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described in detail usingembodiments, which will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, for those of ordinary skill in the art to easily understandand practice the disclosure. However, in describing the presentdisclosure, when it is judged that detailed descriptions on a knownfunction or configuration related to the disclosure might unnecessarilyblur the gist of the embodiments of the disclosure, the detaileddescriptions thereof will be omitted.

The terms used below are terms selected in consideration of functions inthe embodiments, and meanings of the terms may vary in accordance withan intention, practice, or the like of a user or an operator. Thus, in acase in which the terms used in the embodiments, which will be describedbelow, are specifically defined below, the terms should be interpretedas having the specifically-defined meanings, and in a case in which theterms are not specifically defined below, the terms should beinterpreted as having meanings generally understood by those of ordinaryskill in the art.

Further, even when configurations of aspects or embodiments selectivelydescribed below are illustrated as a single integrated configuration inthe drawings, it should be understood that the configurations may befreely combined with each other when it is not clear to those ofordinary skill in the art that such combinations are technicallycontradictory, unless described otherwise.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a cleaning robot and a method of controllingthe cleaning robot will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

Hereinafter, a configuration of a cleaning robot according to oneembodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 is an exterior view of a cleaning robot, FIG. 2A is a bottom viewof a main device according to one embodiment, and FIG. 2B is an interiorview of the main device according to one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, a cleaning robot 1 performs cleaning or moves atleast one time, generates a map including obstacle information of aspace in which the cleaning robot 1 is currently present, generates amap image that is similar to the generated map, and displays the mapimage on a user interface (UI.) Here, “map” refers to spatial imageinformation generated by the cleaning robot 1 on the basis of sensedvalues prior to structural analysis, and “map image” refers to spatialimage information including structural information generated by thecleaning robot 1 as a result of the structural analysis. By thegeneration of the map image, a virtual space to be cleaned which matchesan actual space to be cleaned in which the cleaning robot 1 is presentmay be provided to a user.

Specifically, the cleaning robot 1 may grasp the obstacle information ofthe space in which the cleaning robot 1 is currently present through asensor unit by performing cleaning or moving at least one time in thespace in which the cleaning robot 1 is currently present. The cleaningrobot 1 may generate a map including the obstacle information of thespace in which the cleaning robot 1 is currently present on the basis ofthe grasped obstacle information. The cleaning robot 1 may analyze astructure of the map including the obstacle information, and divide thespace grasped through performing cleaning or moving at least one timeinto a plurality of divided regions on the basis of the analyzedstructure.

The cleaning robot 1 may substitute the plurality of divided regionswith preset figures and generate a map image in which the plurality ofpreset figures are combined to have different areas or positions.

The cleaning robot 1 may generate a map image that substitutes for themap on the basis of a plan view that corresponds to the analyzedstructure among pieces of pre-stored plan view data. The cleaning robot1 may display the generated map image on the UI for the user to easilygrasp the structure of the space in which the cleaning robot 1 iscurrently present and the position of the cleaning robot 1.

The cleaning robot 1 may include a main device 200 configured to performcleaning while moving on a space to be cleaned, and a remote device 100configured to control the operation of the main device 200 from a remotedistance and display a current situation or the like of the main device200. Although a mobile phone may be employed as the remote device 100 asillustrated in FIG. 1, the remote device 100 is not limited thereto, andvarious hand-held devices other than a mobile phone such as a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a laptop, a digital camera, an MP3 player, anda remote controller may also be employed as the remote device 100.

The remote device 100 may include a remote device UI 110 configured toprovide the UI. The remote device UI 110 may include a remote deviceinput unit 111 and a remote device display unit 112. The remote deviceUI 110 may receive a user command for control of the main device 200 ordisplay various pieces of information of the main device 200.

The remote device input unit 111 may include hardware devices such asvarious buttons or switches, a pedal, a keyboard, a mouse, a track-ball,various levers, a handle, or a stick for a user input. The remote deviceinput unit 111 may also include a graphical UI (GUI) such as a touchpad, i.e., a software device, for a user input. The touch pad may beimplemented as a touchscreen panel (TSP) and form a layered structurewith the remote device display unit 112.

A cathode ray tube (CRT), a digital light processing (DLP) panel, aplasma display panel, a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, anelectro-luminescence (EL) panel, an electrophoretic display (EPD) panel,an electrochromic display (ECD) panel, a light emitting diode (LED)panel, an organic LED (OLED) panel, or the like may be provided as theremote device display unit 112, but the remote device display unit 112is not limited thereto.

In a case in which the remote device display unit 112 is configured as aTSP that forms a layered structure with the touch pad as describedabove, the remote device display unit 112 may also be used as an inputunit in addition to being used as a display unit. Hereinafter, forconvenience of descriptions, descriptions will be given by assuming thatthe remote device display unit 112 is configured as a TSP.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 2B, the main device 200 may include a body2 including a main body 2-1 and a sub-body 2-2, a driving wheel assembly30, a main brush unit 20, a power supply unit 250, a dust collector, amain device communication unit 220, and a user interface unit 210. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, the main body 2-1 may have a substantiallysemicircular shape, and the sub-body 2-2 may have a rectangularparallelepiped shape. Exteriors of the remote device 100 and the maindevice 200 are merely examples of an exterior of the cleaning robot 1,and the cleaning robot 1 may have various shapes.

The main device power supply unit 250 supplies driving power for drivingthe main device 200. The main device power supply unit 250 includes abattery that is electrically connected to driving devices for drivingvarious components mounted on the body 2 and configured to supply thedriving power. The battery may be provided as a rechargeable secondarybattery and may be charged by receiving electric power from a dockingstation. Here, the docking station is a device at which the main device200 is docked when the main device 200 has completed a cleaning processor when a residual amount of the battery is lower than a referencevalue. The docking station may supply electric power to the docked maindevice 200 using an external or internal power supply.

The main device power supply unit 250 may be mounted at the bottom ofthe body 2 as illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B, but embodiments are notlimited thereto.

Although not illustrated, the main device communication unit 220 may bedisposed inside the body 2 and allow the body 2 to communicate with thedocking station, a virtual guard, the remote device 100, and the like.The main device communication unit 220 may transmit whether the maindevice 200 has completed cleaning, a residual amount of battery providedin the body 2, a position of the body 2, and the like to the dockingstation, and receive a position of the docking station and a dockingsignal that guides docking of the main device 200 from the dockingstation.

The main device communication unit 220 may transmit and receive an entryrestriction signal to and from a virtual guard configured to form avirtual wall. The virtual guard is an external device configured totransmit an entry restriction signal to a connected path between anydivided region and a specific divided region when the main device 200 istraveling. The virtual guard forms the virtual wall. For example, thevirtual guard may sense entry of the main device 200 into the specificdivided region using an infrared sensor, a magnetic sensor, or the like,and transmit an entry restriction signal to the main devicecommunication unit 220 via a wireless communication network. Here,“region to be cleaned” refers to an entire region on which the maindevice 200 may travel that includes a plurality of divided regions.

In this case, the main device communication unit 220 may receive anentry restriction signal and block the main device 200 from entering aspecific region.

The main device communication unit 220 may receive a command input by auser via the remote device 100. For example, the user may input acleaning start/end command, a cleaning region map generation command, amain device 200 moving command, and the like via the remote device 100,and the main device communication unit 220 may receive a user commandfrom the remote device 100 and allow the main device 200 to perform anoperation corresponding to the received user command. The main devicecommunication unit 220 will be described in further detail below.

A plurality of driving wheel assemblies 30 may be present. Asillustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B, two driving wheel assemblies 30 may beprovided at left and right edges to be symmetrical to each other fromthe center of the bottom of the body 2. The driving wheel assemblies 30respectively include driving wheels 33 and 35 that allow movingoperations such as moving forward, moving backward, and rotating duringa process of performing cleaning. The driving wheel assemblies 30 may bemodularized and be detachably mounted on the bottom of the body 2.Therefore, in a case in which a failure occurs in the driving wheels 33and 35 and repairing is required, only the driving wheel assemblies 30may be separated from the bottom of the body 2 for repair withoutdisassembling the entire body 2. The driving wheel assemblies 30 may bemounted on the bottom of the body 2 by methods such as hook coupling,screw coupling, and fitting.

A castor 31 is provided at a front edge from the center of the bottom ofthe body 2 to allow the body 2 to maintain a stable posture. The castor31 may also constitute a single assembly like the driving wheelassemblies 30.

The main brush unit 20 is mounted at a side of a suction hole 23 formedat the bottom of the body 2. The main brush unit 20 includes a mainbrush 21 and a roller 22. The main brush 21 is disposed at an outersurface of the roller 22 and whirls dust accumulated on a floor surfacein accordance with rotation of the roller 22 to guide the dust to thesuction hole 23. In this case, the main brush 21 may be formed withvarious materials having an elastic force. The roller 22 may be formedof a rigid body, but embodiments are not limited thereto.

Although not illustrated in the drawings, a blower device configured togenerate a suction force may be provided inside the suction hole 23, andthe blower device may move the dust introduced into the suction hole 23to the dust collector configured to collect and filter the dust.

Various sensors may be mounted on the body 2. The various sensors mayinclude at least one of an obstacle sensor 261 and an image sensor 263.

The obstacle sensor 261 is a sensor configured to sense an obstaclepresent on a traveling path of the main device 200, e.g., an appliance,a piece of furniture, a wall surface, a wall corner, or the like insidea house. The obstacle sensor 261 may be provided in the form of anultrasonic sensor capable of recognizing a distance, but embodiments arenot limited thereto.

A plurality of obstacle sensors 261 may be provided at a front portionand a side surface of the body 2 and form a circumference of the body 2.A sensor window may be provided at front surfaces of the plurality ofobstacle sensors 261 to protect and block the obstacle sensors 261 fromthe outside.

The image sensor 263 refers to a sensor configured to recognize theposition of the main device 200 and form a map of a region to be cleanedby the main device 200. The image sensor 263 may be implemented with adevice capable of acquiring image data such as a camera and be providedat the top portion of the body 2. In other words, in addition toextracting a feature point from image data of the top of the main device200, allowing the position of the main device 200 to be recognized usingthe feature point, and allowing a map image of a region to be cleaned tobe generated, the image sensor 263 may also allow the current positionof the main device 200 to be grasped from the map image. The obstaclesensor 261 and the image sensor 263 which may be mounted on the body 2will be described in further detail below.

A main device UI 280 may be disposed at the top portion of the body 2.The main device UI 280 may include a main device input unit 281configured to receive a user command and a main device display unit 282configured to display various states of the main device 200, and providea UI. For example, a battery charging state, whether the dust collectoris fully filled with dust, a cleaning mode, a dormant mode of the maindevice 200, or the like may be displayed on the main device display unit282. Since the forms in which the main device input unit 281 and themain device display unit 282 are implemented are the same as theabove-described forms of the remote device input unit 111 and the remotedevice display unit 112, descriptions thereof will be omitted.

The exterior of the cleaning robot according to one embodiment has beendescribed above. Hereinafter, a configuration of the cleaning robotaccording to one embodiment will be described in detail with referenceto FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control configuration of the cleaningrobot.

The cleaning robot 1 may include the remote device 100 and the maindevice 200 connected to each other by wired and wireless communications.The remote device 100 may include a remote device communication unit120, a remote device controller 130, a remote device storage unit 140,and a remote device UI 110.

The remote device communication unit 120 transmits and receives varioussignals and data to and from the main device 200 or an external servervia wired and wireless communications. For example, in accordance with auser command through the remote device UI 110, the remote devicecommunication unit 120 may download an application for managing the maindevice 200 from an external server (for example, a web server, a mobilecommunication server or the like). The remote device communication unit120 may also download plan view data of a region to be cleaned from theexternal server. Here, a plan view is a figure depicting a structure ofa space in which the main device 200 is present, and plan view data isdata in which a plurality of different plan views of a house aregathered.

The remote device communication unit 120 may transmit a “generate map”command of the user to the main device 200 and receive a generated mapimage from the main device 200. The remote device communication unit 120may transmit a map image edited by the user to the main device 200.

The remote device communication unit 120 may also transmit commands forcontrolling the main device 200, such as a “start cleaning” command, an“end cleaning” command, and a “designate divided region” command inputby the user, to the main device 200.

In a case in which the remote device controller 130 generates a movementpath of the main device 200, the remote device communication unit 120may also transmit information on the generated movement to the maindevice 200.

For this, the remote device communication unit 120 may include variouscommunication modules such as a wireless Internet module, a short rangecommunication module, and a mobile communication module.

The remote device communication unit 120 will be described in detailbelow with reference to FIG. 4A.

The remote device controller 130 controls the overall operation of theremote device 100. The remote device controller 130 may control each ofthe configurations of the remote device 100, i.e., the remote devicecommunication unit 120, the remote device display unit 112, the remotedevice storage unit 140, and the like, on the basis of a user commandinput via the remote device UI 110.

The remote device controller 130 may generate a control signal for theremote device communication unit 120.

For example, in a case in which the user inputs the “generate map”command, the remote device controller 130 may generate a control signalso that the command to generate a map image including one or moredivided regions is transmitted to the main device 200.

In a case in which the user inputs the “start cleaning” command, theremote device controller 130 may generate a control signal so that thestart cleaning command, which moves the main device 200 to a designateddivided region (hereinafter, a designated region) and makes the maindevice 200 perform cleaning in the designated region, is transmitted tothe main device 200. Here, in a case in which the user designates aplurality of divided regions, the remote device controller 130 maygenerate a movement path of the main device 200 so that the main device200 moves to any one divided region of the plurality of designateddivided regions (for example, a divided region that is the closest tothe main device 200), and the main device 200 moves along the pluralityof designated divided regions in accordance with a set order (forexample, an order starting from a divided region which is the closest tothe main device 200). Even when the user does not input the “startcleaning” command, the remote device controller 130 may control thestart cleaning command to be automatically transmitted to the maindevice 200 when a predetermined amount of time elapses after the userdesignates a divided region.

In a case in which the remote device controller 130 generates themovement path, the remote device controller 130 may extract regiondividing points that respectively correspond to the plurality of dividedregions. In a case in which the divided regions are configured as“rooms,” the region dividing points may correspond to “doors” of therooms. A method of generating the movement path and a method ofextracting the region dividing points will be described in detail below.

In a case in which the user inputs the “end cleaning” command, theremote device controller 130 may generate the stop cleaning command forthe main device 200 to stop cleaning that is being performed. The remotedevice controller 130 may generate a control signal to transmit the endcleaning command to the main device 200.

The remote device controller 130 may generate a control signal for theremote device display unit 112.

Specifically, the remote device controller 130 may generate a controlsignal so that a screen corresponding to a user command or a state ofthe main device 200 is output. The remote device controller 130 maygenerate a control signal so that a screen is switched in accordancewith the user command or the state of the main device 200.

For example, in a case in which the user inputs the “generate map”command, the remote device controller 130 may generate a control signalso that a map image including one or more divided regions is displayed.

In a case in which the user inputs the “designate divided region”command, the remote device controller 130 may generate a control signalso that a designated region outline display attribute is changed or adesignated region name display attribute is changed in accordance withthe user command. As an example, the remote device controller 130 mayallow color of an outline or name of a designated region to be changedor allow the outline or name of the designated region to be displayed inbold font.

In a case in which the user has input the “start cleaning” command andthe main device 200 is moving to a designated region, the remote devicecontroller 130 may generate a control signal so that the remote devicedisplay unit 112 outputs an animation, which indicates that the maindevice 200 is moving.

In a case in which the user has input the “start cleaning” command andthe main device 200 is performing cleaning in a designated region, theremote device controller 130 may generate a control signal so that theremote device display unit 112 outputs an icon, which indicates that themain device 200 is performing cleaning.

In a case in which a movement path of the main device 200 is generated,the remote device controller 130 may generate a control signal so thatthe remote device display unit 112 outputs the generated movement path.

In a case in which the main device 200 has completed cleaning in thedesignated region, the remote device controller 130 may generate acontrol signal so that the remote device display unit 112 outputs anicon, which indicates that cleaning by the main device 200 is completed.

In a case in which an error occurs while the main device 200 is movingor performing cleaning, the remote device controller 130 may generate acontrol signal so that the remote device display unit 112 outputs anicon notifying of the occurrence of an error in the main device 200.

Screens respectively corresponding to user commands or states of themain device 200 will be described in detail below.

The remote device controller 130 may generate a control signal for theremote device storage unit 140. The remote device controller 130 maygenerate a control signal so that a map image is stored.

The remote device controller 130 may be various processors including atleast one chip in which an integrated circuit is formed. Although theremote device controller 130 may be provided in a single processor, theremote device controller 130 may also be separately provided in aplurality of processors.

The remote device storage unit 140 temporarily or non-temporarily storesdata and programs for the operation of the remote device 100. Forexample, the remote device storage unit 140 may store an application formanaging the main device 200. The remote device storage unit 140 mayalso store the map image received from the main device 200 and storeplan view data downloaded from an external server.

Such a remote device storage unit 140 may include at least one type ofstorage medium among a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimediacard micro type, a card type memory (for example, a secure digital (SD)or extreme digital (XD) memory, or the like), a random access memory(RAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electricallyerasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a PROM, a magnetic memory, amagnetic disk, and an optical disc. However, the remote device storageunit 140 is not limited thereto and may also be implemented in otherarbitrary forms known in the same technical field. The remote device 100may operate a web storage that performs a storage function on theInternet.

The remote device UI 110 may receive various commands for controllingthe main device 200 from the user. For example, the remote device UI 110may receive the “generate map” command for generating the map imageincluding one or more divided regions, or receive a “manage map” commandfor modifying the generated map image, the “designate divided region”command for a divided region to be designated, a “manage cleaning”command for moving the main device 200 to a designated region and makingthe main device 200 perform cleaning, and the like.

The remote device UI 110 may also receive a “start/end” command or thelike for starting or ending the cleaning by the main device 200.

The remote device UI 110 may display various pieces of information ofthe main device 200.

For example, the remote device UI 110 may display a map imagecorresponding to a region to be cleaned along which the main device 200travels.

In a case in which the user inputs the “designate divided region”command, the remote device UI 110 may change a designated region outlinedisplay attribute or change a designated region name display attributein accordance with a user command. As an example, the remote devicecontroller 130 may allow color of an outline or name of a designatedregion to be changed or allow the outline or name of the designatedregion to be displayed in bold font.

In a case in which the user has input the “start cleaning” command andthe main device 200 is moving to a designated region, the remote deviceUI 110 may output an animation, which indicates that the main device 200is moving.

In a case in which the user has input the “start cleaning” command andthe main device 200 is performing cleaning in a designated region, theremote device UI 110 may output an icon, which indicates that the maindevice 200 is performing cleaning.

In a case in which a movement path of the main device 200 is generated,the remote device UI 110 may display the generated movement path.

In a case in which the main device 200 has completed cleaning in thedesignated region, the remote device UI 110 may output an icon, whichindicates that cleaning by the main device 200 is completed.

In a case in which an error occurs while the main device 200 is movingor performing cleaning, the remote device UI 110 may output an iconnotifying of the occurrence of an error in the main device 200.

The main device 200 may include the main device power supply unit 250, amain device sensor unit 260, the main device communication unit 220, amain device controller 230, a main device driver 270, a main device UI280, and a main device storage unit 240.

As described with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the main device powersupply unit 250 is provided as a battery and supplies driving power fordriving the main device 200.

The main device communication unit 220 transmits and receives varioussignals and data to and from the remote device 100 or an external devicevia wired and wireless communications.

For example, the main device communication unit 220 may receive the“generate map” command of the user from the remote device 100 andtransmit a generated map image to the remote device 100. The main devicecommunication unit 220 may receive a map image stored in the remotedevice 100 and a cleaning schedule stored in the remote device 100. Inthis case, the stored map image may refer to a finally-stored map image,and the stored cleaning schedule may refer to a finally-stored cleaningschedule.

The main device communication unit 220 may also transmit a current statevalue of the main device 200 and cleaning history data to the remotedevice 100.

The main device communication unit 220 may receive the “start cleaning”command of the user and data related to a designated region from theremote device 100. When a situation in which a transmitted environmentis inconsistent occurs while the main device 200 is performing cleaning,the main device communication unit 220 may transmit an error statevalue, which indicates that the environment is inconsistent, to theremote device 100. Likewise, in a case in which a region that is unableto be cleaned is generated, the main device communication unit 220 maytransmit a state value, which indicates that cleaning is impossible, tothe remote device 100.

In a case in which the remote device 100 generates a movement path, themain device communication unit 220 may also receive information on thegenerated movement path.

The main device communication unit 220 may also receive the “endcleaning” command of the user from the remote device 100.

The main device communication unit 220 will be described in detail belowwith reference to FIG. 4A.

The main device sensor unit 260 performs sensing of an obstacle and astate of the ground, which is required for traveling of the main device200. The main device sensor unit 260 may include the obstacle sensor 261and the image sensor 263.

A plurality of obstacle sensors 261 are provided at an outercircumferential surface of the body 2 and configured to sense anobstacle present in front of or beside the main device 200 and transmitsa sensed result to the main device controller 230.

The obstacle sensors 261 may be provided as contact type sensors ornon-contact type sensors in accordance with whether the obstacle sensors261 come into contact with an obstacle, or may also be provided as acombination of a contact type sensor and a non-contact type sensor. Acontact type sensor refers to a sensor that senses an obstacle by thebody 2 actually colliding with an obstacle, and a non-contact typesensor refers to a sensor that senses an obstacle without the body 2colliding with the obstacle or before the body 2 collides with theobstacle.

The non-contact type sensor may include an ultrasonic sensor, an opticalsensor, a radiofrequency (RF) sensor, or the like. In a case in whichthe obstacle sensors 261 are implemented as ultrasonic sensors, theobstacle sensor 261 may transmit ultrasonic waves to a path on which themain device 200 travels, receive reflected ultrasonic waves, and sensean obstacle. In a case in which the obstacle sensors 261 are implementedas optical sensors, the obstacle sensors 261 may project light in aninfrared region or visible light region, receive reflected light, andsense an obstacle. In a case in which the obstacle sensors 261 areimplemented as RF sensors, the obstacle sensors 261 may transmit a radiowave having a specific frequency, for example, a microwave, using theDoppler effect, detect changes in a frequency of a reflected wave, andsense an obstacle.

The image sensor 263 may be provided as a device capable of acquiringimage data such as a camera, and may be mounted on the top portion ofthe body 2 to recognize the position of the main device 200. The imagesensor 263 extracts a feature point from image data of the top of themain device 200 and recognizes the position of the main device 200 usingthe feature point. Position information sensed by the image sensor 263may be transmitted to the main device controller 230.

Sensor values of the main device sensor unit 260, i.e., sensor values ofthe obstacle sensors 261 and the image sensor 263, may be transmitted tothe main device controller 230, and the main device controller 230 maygenerate a map of a region to be cleaned on the basis of the receivedsensor values. Since a method of generating a map on the basis of sensorvalues is a known technique, descriptions thereof will be omitted. FIG.4A merely illustrates one example of the main device sensor unit 260.The main device sensor unit 260 may further include other types ofsensors or some sensors may be omitted from the main device sensor unit260 as long as a map of a region to be cleaned may be generated.

The main device driver 270 may include a driving wheel driver 271configured to control driving of the driving wheel assemblies 30, and amain brush driver 272 configured to control driving of the main brushunit 20.

The driving wheel driver 271 is controlled by the main device controller230 to control the driving wheels 33 and 35 mounted on the bottom of thebody 2 and allow the main device 200 to move. In a case in which the“generate map” command, the “start cleaning” command, a “move region”command, or the like of the user is transmitted to the main device 200,the driving wheel driver 271 controls driving of the driving wheels 33and 35, and the main device 200 travels in accordance with the control.The driving wheel driver 271 may also be included in the driving wheelassemblies 30 and be modularized together with the driving wheelassemblies 30.

The main brush driver 272 drives the roller 22 mounted at the side ofthe suction hole 23 of the body 2 in accordance with control by the maindevice controller 230. In accordance with rotation of the roller 22, themain brush 21 may be rotated and clean a floor surface. When the “startcleaning” command of the user is transmitted to the main device 200, themain brush driver 272 controls driving of the roller 22.

The main device controller 230 controls the overall operation of themain device 200. The main device controller 230 may control theconfigurations of the main device 200, i.e., the main devicecommunication unit 220, the main device driver 270, the main devicestorage unit 240, and the like, and generate a map image.

Specifically, the main device controller 230 may generate a controlsignal for the main device driver 270.

For example, in a case in which the main device controller 230 receivesthe “generate map” command, the main device controller 230 may generatea control signal for the driving wheel driver 271 to drive the drivingwheels 33 and 35. While the driving wheels 33 and 35 are driven, themain device controller 230 may receive sensor values from the maindevice sensor unit 260 and generate a map image of a region to becleaned on the basis of the received sensor values.

In a case in which the main device controller 230 receives the “startcleaning” command and data related to a designated region, the maindevice controller 230 may generate a control signal for the drivingwheel driver 271 for the main device 200 to be moved to the designatedregion by the user. In a case in which the main device 200 is moved tothe designated region, the main device controller 230 may control themain brush driver 272 to drive the main brush unit 20 while generating acontrol signal related to the driving wheel driver 271 to drive thedriving wheels 33 and 35.

The main device controller 230 may generate a map image.

Specifically, in a case in which the main device controller 230 receivesthe “generate map” command, the main device controller 230 may receivesensor values from the main device sensor unit 260, generate a mapincluding obstacle information, analyze a structure of the generatedmap, and divide the map into a plurality of regions.

The main device controller 230 may substitute the plurality of dividedregions with preset figures different from each other and generate a mapimage in which the plurality of preset figures are combined.

The main device controller 230 may find a plan view corresponding to theanalyzed map structure among pieces of plan view data stored in the maindevice storage unit 240 and postprocess the corresponding plan view togenerate a map image.

In a case in which the user designates a plurality of divided regions,although it has been described in the above-described embodiment thatthe remote device controller 130 generates a movement path of the maindevice 200, the main device controller 230 may also generate themovement path. In this case, the main device controller 230 may generatea control signal so that the main device communication unit 220transmits information on the generated movement path to the remotedevice 100, and the main device driver 270 travels and performs cleaningalong the generated movement path.

When the user inputs the “start cleaning” command or even when the userdoes not input the “start cleaning” command, the remote devicecontroller 130 may generate a control signal so that the main devicedriver 270 travels and performs cleaning along the generated movementpath when a predetermined amount of time elapses after the userdesignates a divided region.

Hereinafter, for convenience of description, a case in which the maindevice controller 230 generates the movement path will be described asan example.

The main device controller 230 may generate control signals for the maindevice communication unit 220 and the main device UI 280.

For example, the main device controller 230 may generate a controlsignal so that the main device communication unit 220 transmits agenerated map image to the remote device 100, and may generate a controlsignal so that the main device UI 280 displays the generated map image.

In a case in which the main device controller 230 receives the “startcleaning” command and data related to a designated region, the maindevice controller 230 may generate a control signal so that the maindevice communication unit 220 transmits a state value of the main device200 (for example, whether the main device 200 is moving or performingcleaning, has completed cleaning, or whether an error has occurred) tothe remote device 100.

In a case in which the main device controller 230 generates the movementpath of the main device 200, the main device controller 230 may alsogenerate a control signal so that the main device communication unit 220transmits information on the generated movement to the remote device100.

The main device controller 230 may determine whether an environment isinconsistent while the main device 200 performs cleaning. In a case inwhich the environment is inconsistent, the main device controller 230may control the main device communication unit 220 to transmit an errorstate value, which indicates that the environment is inconsistent, tothe remote device 100. The user may check an error state and decidewhether to update a map image. In a case in which the main devicecontroller 230 receives an “update map” command, the main devicecontroller 230 updates the map image on the basis of a user command. Ina case in which the environment is inconsistent, the main devicecontroller 230 may also automatically update the map image.

To prevent malfunctioning due to the environmental inconsistency, in acase in which the environment is inconsistent, the main devicecontroller 230 may control the main device 100 to stop cleaning andreturn to be charged.

While the main device 200 performs cleaning, the main device controller230 may determine whether a region that is unable to be cleaned ispresent. In a case in which a region unable to be cleaned is present,the main device controller 230 may control the main device communicationunit 220 to transmit the error state value, which indicates that theregion unable to be cleaned is present. The user may check that theregion unable to be cleaned is present and determine whether to change aregion to be cleaned. In a case in which the main device controller 230receives a “move divided region” command, the main device controller 230generates a control signal so that the main device moves to the nextdivided region. In a case in which a region unable to be cleaned ispresent, the main device controller 230 may automatically generate acontrol signal for the main device 200 to move to the next dividedregion along the generated movement path. For example, the order ofdivided regions in which the main device 200 moves may be set to beclockwise or counterclockwise from a divided region that is the closestto the main device 200 or from a divided region that is the farthestfrom the main device 200, may be set to be from the largest dividedregion to the smallest divided region, or may be set to be from thesmallest divided region to the largest divided region. In this way,various methods may be employed in accordance with the user's setting.Even in this case, the main device controller 230 may control the maindevice 100 to stop cleaning and return to be charged.

The main device controller 230 may generate a control signal for themain device storage unit 240. The main device controller 230 may alsogenerate a control signal so that a generated map image is stored. Themain device controller 230 may generate a control signal so that a mapimage and a cleaning schedule received from the remote device 100 arestored.

The main device controller 230 may be various processors including atleast one chip in which an integrated circuit is formed. Although themain device controller 230 may be provided in a single processor, themain device controller 230 may also be separately provided in aplurality of processors.

The main device UI 280 may display a current operation situation of themain device 200 and a map image of a section in which the main device200 is currently present, and display the current position of the maindevice 200 on the displayed map image. The main device UI 280 mayreceive an operation command of the user and transmit the receivedoperation command to a controller. The main device UI 280 may be thesame as or different from the main device UI 280 which has beendescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 to 2B.

The main device UI 280 may include the main device input unit 281 andthe main device display unit 282. Since the forms in which the maindevice input unit 281 and the main device display unit 282 areimplemented may be the same as the above-described forms of the remotedevice input unit 111 and the remote device display unit 112,descriptions thereof will be omitted.

Although it has been described in the above-described embodiment thatthe remote device input unit 111 of the remote device UI 110 receivesthe generate map command, the designate divided region command, thestart cleaning command, and the end cleaning command, such user commandsmay also be directly received by the main device input unit 281 of themain device UI 280.

Although it has been described in the above-described embodiment thatthe remote device display unit 112 of the remote device UI 110 outputs ascreen corresponding to a user command or a state of the main device200, the screen corresponding to a user command or a state of the maindevice 200 may also be directly output by the main device display unit282 of the main device UI 280.

The main device storage unit 240 temporarily or non-temporarily storesdata and programs for the operation of the main device 200. For example,the main device storage unit 240 may temporarily or non-temporarilystore a state value of the main device 200. The main device storage unit240 may store cleaning history data, and the cleaning history data maybe periodically or non-periodically updated. In a case in which the maindevice controller 230 generates a map image or updates the map image,the main device storage unit 240 may store the generated map image orthe updated map image. The main device storage unit 240 may store a mapimage received from the remote device 100.

The main device storage unit 240 may store a program for generating themap image or updating the map image. The main device storage unit 240may store a program for generating or updating the cleaning historydata. The main device storage unit 240 may also store a program fordetermining whether an environment is consistent, a program fordetermining whether a certain region is a region unable to be cleaned,or the like.

Such a main device storage unit 240 may include at least one type ofstorage medium from among a flash memory type, a hard disk type, amultimedia card micro type, a card type memory (for example, a SD or XDmemory, or the like), a RAM, a SRAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, a PROM, amagnetic memory, a magnetic disk, and an optical disc. However, the maindevice storage unit 240 is not limited thereto and may also beimplemented in other arbitrary forms known in the same technical field.

FIG. 4A is a control block diagram of a communication unit according toone embodiment, and FIG. 4B is a control block diagram of acommunication unit according to another embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4A, a communication unit may include a remote devicecommunication unit 120 included in a remote device 100 and a main devicecommunication unit 220 included in a main device 200.

The remote device communication unit 120, the main device communicationunit 220, and a network may be connected to each other and transmit andreceive data to and from each other. For example, the main devicecommunication unit 220 may transmit a map image generated by the maindevice controller 230, the current position of the main device 200, anda state value of the main device 200 to the remote device 100, and theremote device communication unit 120 may transmit a user command to themain device 200. The remote device communication unit 120 may beconnected to the network, receive an operation state of another homeappliance 330, and transmit a control command related thereto. The maindevice communication unit 220 may be connected to another remote device320 and receive the control command therefrom.

Referring to FIG. 4B, the main device communication unit 220 may beconnected to the network and download plan view data from a server 310.

The remote device communication unit 120 may include a remote deviceshort range communication module 121, which is a short rangecommunication module, a remote device wired communication module 122,which is a wired communication module, and a remote device mobilecommunication module 123, which is a mobile communication module. Themain device communication unit 220 may include a main device short rangecommunication module 221, which is a short range communication module, amain device wired communication module 222, which is a wiredcommunication module, and a main device mobile communication module 223,which is a mobile communication module.

Here, the short range communication module may be a module for shortrange communication within a predetermined distance. A short rangecommunication technique may include a wireless local area network (LAN),a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi Direct (WFD),ultra wideband (UWB), infrared data association (IrDA), Bluetooth lowenergy (BLE), near field communication (NFC), and the like, but is notlimited thereto.

The wired communication module refers to a module for communicationusing an electrical signal or an optical signal. A wired communicationtechnique may include a pair cable, a coaxial cable, an optical fibercable, an Ethernet cable, and the like, but is not limited thereto.

The mobile communication module may transmit and receive a wirelesssignal to and from at least one of a base station, an external terminal,and the server 310 in a mobile communication network. The wirelesssignal may include a voice call signal, a video call signal, or variousforms of data in accordance with transmission and reception oftext/multimedia messages.

Hereinafter, a menu selection screen displayed on a remote deviceaccording to one embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5and 6.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary view of a home screen of a remote device UI.

The remote device UI 110 including the remote device input unit 111 andthe remote device display unit 112 may be provided at a front surface ofthe remote device 100. The remote device input unit 111 may include aplurality of buttons. In this case, the buttons may be hardware buttonsor software buttons. The remote device display unit 112 may beconfigured as a TSP and sense a user's input.

An application for managing the main device 200 may be installed in theremote device 100. In this case, the application for managing the maindevice 200 will be simply referred to as a “cleaning robot application.”

Although a case in which the cleaning robot application is installed inthe remote device 100 is employed in the embodiment below, embodimentsare not necessarily limited thereto, and the cleaning robot applicationmay also be directly installed in the main device 200.

The remote device display unit 112 may display the installed applicationon the home screen and provide convenience for the user to access theapplication. For example, the remote device display unit 112 may displaythe installed application with an icon 150 titled “cleaning robot.”

The user may execute the cleaning robot application by touching the“cleaning robot” icon 150. When the cleaning robot application isexecuted, the remote device display unit 112 may switch the screen tothe one illustrated in FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary view of a menu selection screen of the remotedevice UI.

A “home screen” icon 190 a may be displayed at the top of a remotedevice display unit 112 for returning to the home screen. That is, whenthe “home screen” icon 190 a is selected, the screen may be switchedback to the one illustrated in FIG. 5. A “map management” icon 160 and a“cleaning management” icon 170 may be sequentially displayed in thatorder below the “home screen” icon 190 a. Here, the “map management”icon 160 is an icon provided for generating or managing a map image of aregion in which the main device 200 travels or cleans, i.e., a region tobe cleaned. The “cleaning management” icon 170 is an icon provided fordesignating a specific divided region on the basis of a generated mapimage and making the main device 200 move or perform cleaning.

The user may select the “cleaning management” icon 170 and switch thescreen of the remote device display unit 112 to a screen for making themain device 200 move or perform cleaning.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary view of a map image displayed by the remotedevice UI of the cleaning robot according to one embodiment, and FIG. 8is an exemplary view of a map image displayed by the remote device UI ofthe cleaning robot according to another embodiment.

In accordance with a user's input on a “map generation” icon, a maindevice controller 230 may perform cleaning or move at least one time ina space in which a main device 200 is currently present, generate a mapincluding obstacle information, and analyze a structure of the map onthe basis of the generated map. The main device controller 230 maydivide the map into a plurality of regions on the basis of the analyzedmap structure, and generate a map image including the plurality ofdivided regions.

The map image generated by the main device controller 230 according toone embodiment may be transmitted to a remote device 100 via a maindevice communication unit 220 and a remote device communication unit120, and the transmitted map image may be displayed on a remote deviceUI 110.

Specifically, in a case in which the main device controller 230 combinesfour divided regions (first to fourth regions Z1 to Z4) and generates amap image depicting one living room and three rooms, the map image maybe generated so that a fourth region Z4, which is a living room, isdisposed at the center, a first region Z1, which is a room, is disposedat the left from the fourth region Z4, and a second region 410 and athird region Z3 are disposed at the right from the fourth region Z4 asshown in FIG. 7. A map image 161 in which figures corresponding to sizesof the divided regions are placed as the first region Z1 to the thirdregion Z3 may be generated, and the generated map image 161 may bedisplayed on the remote device UI 110. Here, the figures include freefigures formed as closed loops.

The main device controller 230 according to another embodiment maysearch for a plan view 162 corresponding to a map image as shown in FIG.8 from the main device storage unit 240 and allow the found plan view162 to be displayed on the remote device UI 110.

Cleaning operations and screens of the cleaning robot 1 disclosed inFIGS. 9 to 19 may be performed and displayed in a case in which the userselects the “cleaning management” icon 170 illustrated in FIG. 6, or maybe automatically performed and displayed after a map image is generated.

Hereinafter, for convenience of description, a process performed in acase in which a “manage cleaning” command is input to the cleaning robotwill be described using the map image 161 according to one embodimentillustrated in FIG. 7 as an example. FIGS. 9 to 16 are conceptualdiagrams for describing processes in which the user commands cleaningoperations of the cleaning robot on the basis of a map image displayedby the remote device UI of the cleaning robot and screens output by theremote device UI in accordance with user commands or states of the maindevice according to one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 9, a “home screen” icon 190 a and a “previous screen”icon 190 b for returning to the previous screen may be displayed at thetop of the remote device UI 110 according to one embodiment. That is,when the “previous screen” icon 190 b is selected, the screen may beswitched back to the previous screen.

The remote device UI 110 may display (171 a) a map image 171 a showingthat a main device 200 is currently at the center of the bottom of afourth region Z4, which is a living room.

The current position of the main device 200 may be determined by a maindevice controller 230 on the basis of values sensed by a main devicesensor unit 260, and the main device controller 230 may match thecurrent position of the main device 200 to the map image 171 a stored ina main device storage unit 240 to control the UI 110 to display theposition of the main device 200 on the map image 171 a.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, a user U may specify and designate a secondregion 410, in which the user U wishes to perform cleaning or to whichthe user U wishes to move a main device 200, from a map image 17 lb-1using his or her finger. In a case in which the user U designates thesecond region 410, a remote device UI 110 may change an outline displayattribute of the second region 410 by displaying an outline of thesecond region 410 in a different color or displaying (171 b-1) theoutline of the second region 410 in bold font so that the second region410, which is a designated region 410, is differentiated from the otherdivided regions.

In a case in which at least one divided region is designated by the userU, the remote device UI 110 may display a “start cleaning” icon it atthe bottom of the screen.

By selecting the “start cleaning” icon it at the bottom of the screen,the user U may input the start cleaning command so that the main device200 moves to the designated region 410 along a generated movement pathand performs cleaning. In addition, the user U may input the startcleaning command using various other methods such as a voice command.Various known techniques may be employed as a method of inputting thestart cleaning command. The main device 200 may also automatically startcleaning along the movement path when a predetermined amount of timeelapses after the designate divided region command is input.

In a case in which the start cleaning command is input, the remotedevice communication unit 120 transmits information on the input startcleaning command and the designated region 410 designated by the user Uto the main device communication unit 220. Then, a main devicecontroller 230 moves the main device 200 to the designated region 410and, in a case in which the main device 200 is moved to the designatedregion 410, controls the main device 200 to perform cleaning. In thiscase, a main device communication unit 220 may transmit a current statevalue of the main device 200 (for example, whether the main device 200is moving or performing cleaning, has completed cleaning, or whether anerror occurred) and cleaning history data to the remote devicecommunication unit 120.

In a case in which the main device 200 moves to the designated region410, the main device 200 may move along a movement path generated by themain device controller 230 or the remote device controller 130. Thegeneration of the movement path will be described below.

According to one embodiment, in a case in which the remote devicecommunication unit 120 receives a “moving” state value as the currentstate value of the main device 200 from the main device communicationunit 220, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the remote device UI 110 maydisplay a translucent layer 191 a over a map image 171 c-1, and the maindevice 200 may display an animation 191 b from which a user mayintuitively recognize that the main device 200 is moving. In addition,the remote device UI 110 may display a message 192, which indicates thatthe main device 200 is moving.

In a case in which the start cleaning command is input, the “startcleaning” icon it at the bottom of the screen may be changed to an “endcleaning” icon i2.

By selecting the “end cleaning” icon i2 at the bottom of the screen, theuser U may input the end cleaning command so that the main device 200stops cleaning that was being performed. In addition, the user U mayinput the end cleaning command using various other methods such as avoice command. Various known techniques may be employed as a method ofinputting the end cleaning command.

According to another embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 12, in a case inwhich a remote device communication unit 120 receives a “moving” statevalue as a current state value of a main device 200 from a main devicecommunication unit 220, a remote device UI 110 may display a movementpath 193 of the main device 200. The movement path may be a predictedmovement path to the designated region 410 that is arbitrarily generatedby a remote device controller 130 or a main device controller 230regardless of an actual movement path of the main device 200, may be anactual path along which the main device 200 moves in real time, or mayinclude both the predicted movement path and the actual path.

For example, a predicted movement path 193 may be generated for the maindevice 200 to move upward from the fourth region Z4 and then moverightward so as to move from the point at which the main device 200 iscurrently present to the designated region 410. In a case in which aplurality of designated regions are present, the predicted movement path193 may also be a path indicating an order of designated regions inwhich the main device 200 moves.

In a case in which the movement path includes both the predictedmovement path and the actual path, a path through which the main device200 has already passed may be removed from the predicted movement pathin real time. A path through which the main device 200 has alreadypassed may also be removed in a case in which the main device 200 hascompleted moving.

In a case in which the main device 200 is moving, the remote device UI110 may re-change the outline display attribute of the designated region410 on a map image 171 c-2 and may also change the outline displayattribute to correspond to that prior to a divided region beingdesignated. However, since the outline display attribute may also bere-changed in a case in which the remote device communication unit 120receives a “cleaning completed” state value as the current state valueof the main device 200 from the main device communication unit 220, theoutline display attribute being re-changed in a case in which thecleaning completed state value is transmitted will be described below asan example.

In a case in which the remote device communication unit 120 receives a“cleaning” state value as the current state value of the main device 200from the main device communication unit 220, as illustrated in FIG. 13,the remote device UI 110 may display a “cleaning” icon (for example, ahollow circular icon), which indicates that cleaning is being performed,above a name 194 of the designated region 410. As illustrated in FIG.14, a “cleaning icon” 190 c may also be displayed in the form ofanimation that moves within the designated region 410.

The remote device UI 110 may also display a message 192, which indicatesthat the main device 200 is performing cleaning.

In a case in which the remote device communication unit 120 receives the“cleaning completed” state value as the current state value of the maindevice 200 from the main device communication unit 220, as illustratedin FIG. 15, the remote device UI 110 may display a “cleaning completed”icon (for example, a check icon), which indicates that cleaning iscompleted, above the name 194 of the designated region 410. In a case inwhich cleaning is completed, the remote device UI 110 may re-change theoutline display attribute of the designated region 410 on the map image171 c-2 or change the outline display attribute to correspond to thatprior to a divided region being designated.

The remote device UI 110 may also display a message 192, which indicatesthat the main device 200 has completed cleaning.

In a case in which a movement environment is determined to be differentfrom a map image or is determined to not be possible for the main device200 to move or perform cleaning therein while the main device 200 ismoving or performing cleaning, the main device communication unit 220may transmit a state value, which indicates that cleaning is notpossible, to the remote device communication unit 120 as illustrated inFIG. 16. In a case in which the remote device communication unit 120 hasreceived such a state value, the remote device UI 110 may display an“error occurrence” icon (for example, an exclamation mark icon), whichindicates that an error has occurred.

The remote device UI 110 may also display a message 192, which notifiesthe user of the occurrence of an error.

Although the outline display attribute of the designated region 410being changed in accordance with the current state value of the maindevice 200 has been described as an example in the above-describedembodiment, a display attribute of the name 194 of the designated region410 may also be changed.

FIGS. 17 and 18 are conceptual views of screens of a UI according toanother embodiment. FIG. 17 illustrates a screen through which adesignate divided region command is received, and FIG. 18 illustrates ascreen displayed in a case in which cleaning is completed.

Referring to FIG. 17, in a case in which a user U designates a secondregion 410, a remote device UI 110 may change a display attribute of thename of the designated region 410 by displaying a name 194 of the secondregion 410 in a different color or displaying (171 b-2) the name 194 inbold font so that the second region 410, which is the designated region410, is differentiated from the other divided regions.

In a case in which a main device 200 is moving, the remote device UI 110may re-change a name display attribute of the designated region 410 on amap image 171 c-2 and may also change the name display attribute tocorrespond to that prior to a divided region being designated. The namedisplay attribute may also be re-changed in a case in which the remotedevice communication unit 120 receives the “cleaning completed” statevalue as the current state value of the main device 200 from a maindevice communication unit 220 as illustrated in FIG. 18.

Although it has been disclosed in the above-described embodiment thatthe user U specifies only one divided region using his or her finger,the user U may also specify and designate a plurality of divided regionson a map image and a cleaning order of the plurality of divided regions.

FIG. 19 is a conceptual diagram of a screen through which commands forspecifying and designating a plurality of divided regions and a cleaningorder of the plurality of divided regions are received.

Referring to FIG. 19, a remote device UI 110 may sequentially receivedesignations of a plurality of divided regions 410 and 420 from a userU, and an order in which the plurality of divided regions 410 and 420are designated may be stored in a remote device storage unit 140.

In a case in which the user U designates the plurality of dividedregions 410 and 420 and an order thereof (410->420) and inputs a startcleaning command, a main device 200 may receive information on thedesignated divided regions 410 and 420 and the order in which thedivided regions are designated, generate a movement path in accordancewith the designation order, and move and perform cleaning along themovement path.

Even in a case in which the user U designates only the plurality ofdivided regions 410 and 420 and does not designate a cleaning orderthereof, a main device controller 230 may generate a movement path inaccordance with a pre-stored cleaning order (for example, 410->420) andcontrol the main device 200 to move and perform cleaning along thegenerated movement path. In this case, the remote device UI 110 maydisplay the generated movement path.

For example, the cleaning order may be set to be clockwise orcounterclockwise from a divided region that is the closest to thecurrent position of the main device 200 or from a divided region that isthe farthest from the current position of the main device 200, may beset to be from the largest divided region to the smallest dividedregion, may be set to be from the smallest divided region to the largestdivided region, or may be set to be from a divided region that is themost adjacent to the current position of the main device 200. In thisway, various methods may be employed.

Hereinafter, a process in which the main device 200 generates a movementpath and moves and performs cleaning along the generated movement pathwill be described in detail with reference to FIG. 20. FIG. 20 is adetailed control block diagram of the main device according to oneembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 20, a main device 200 may include a main device sensorunit 260, a main device storage unit 240, a main device controller 230,and a main device driver 270.

The main device sensor unit 260 may recognize a position of the maindevice 200 through movement of the main device 200 in a space to becleaned in which the main device 200 is present, and transmit theposition information to the main device controller 230. Since detaileddescriptions related to the main device sensor unit 260 have been givenabove with reference to FIG. 3, repetitive descriptions will be omitted.

The main device storage unit 240 stores a map image 241 including one ormore divided regions. In this case, the main device storage unit 240 maystore the map image 241 generated by the “generate map” command of theuser.

The main device storage unit 240 may store a program for generating amovement path or store the map image 241 downloaded from the outside.Since detailed descriptions related to the main device storage unit 240have been given above with reference to FIG. 3, repetitive descriptionswill be omitted.

The main device controller 230 may include a position determiner 231, amovement path generator 232, a movement controller 233, a virtual wallsetter 234, and a cleaning controller 235.

On the basis of position information of the main device 260 receivedfrom the main device sensor unit 260 and the map image 241 stored in themain device storage unit 240, the position determiner 231 matches thecurrent position of the main device 200 with the map image 241.

The movement path generator 232 selects a divided region to which themain device 200 moves in accordance with a user command and sets atarget point to which the main device 200 moves within the selecteddivided region. Then, the movement path generator 232 sets a path alongwhich the main device 200 moves to the target point.

According to one embodiment, the target point to which the main device200 moves is a point at which the main device 200 is the most likely tobe actually present within the divided region selected by the user. Thetarget point to which the main device 200 moves may be a central pointof the divided region or a point farthest from surrounding obstacleswithin the divided region. The target point to which the main device 200moves will be described below with reference to FIG. 23.

Since the generation of a path along which the main device 200 moves hasbeen described above, repetitive descriptions will be omitted.

The movement controller 233 controls a driving wheel driver 271 of themain device driver 270 to allow the main device 200 to move to thetarget point along the generated movement path.

In a case in which the main device 200 is present at the target point,the virtual wall setter 234 generates a virtual wall around the selecteddivided region. At the virtual wall, an entry of the main device 200 isrestricted. For example, the virtual wall may be set in the vicinity ofa region dividing point of the divided region.

The virtual wall setter 234 may also set a virtual wall in accordancewith a user command.

A detailed control process of the virtual wall setter 230 will bedescribed below with reference to FIGS. 24 to 28.

The cleaning controller 235 controls the main device 200 to performcleaning.

Specifically, the cleaning controller 235 may control the driving wheeldriver 271 of the main device driver 270 to allow the main device 200 totravel, and may control the main brush driver 272 and a side-brushdriver 273 to allow the main device 200 to perform cleaning whiletraveling.

According to one embodiment, the cleaning controller 235 may allow thedriving wheel driver 271 to perform autonomous traveling. In this case,since an actual space to be cleaned in which the main device 200 ispresent is similar to the map image 241 stored in the storage unit 240,the main device 200 may perform cleaning within the divided regionintended by the user by partitions surrounding the divided region of theactual space to be cleaned and the virtual wall set by the virtual wallsetter 230.

In this way, in a case in which the main device 200 starts autonomoustraveling from the target point, since the main device 200 performscleaning throughout the entire divided region of the actual space to becleaned even in a case in which the main image and the actual space tobe cleaned do not exactly match each other, i.e., even when a positionrecognition error occurs in the main device 200, the actual space to becleaned may be thoroughly cleaned.

In a case in which a virtual wall is set at a region dividing point,since movement of the main device 200 at the virtual wall is restrictedeven when the main device 200 approaches the region dividing point whileperforming autonomous traveling, the main device 200 may be preventedfrom moving out of the divided region intended by the user.

According to another embodiment, the main device controller 230 mayfurther include a virtual region setter configured to set a virtualregion. FIG. 21 is a control block diagram of a virtual wall setter, avirtual region setter, and a cleaning controller of the main devicecontroller 230 according to the other embodiment.

A virtual region setter 236 may set a virtual region having a boundaryspaced a preset reference distance apart from a divided region on a mapimage selected by the user. The virtual region allows the main device200 to thoroughly perform cleaning within the divided region of theactual space to be cleaned even when there is an error between thedivided region of the actual space to be cleaned and a divided region ofthe map image. The virtual region may be a space within a virtual wallforming a closed loop.

In this case, the cleaning controller 235 may allow the driving wheeldriver 271 to perform autonomous traveling within the virtual region setby the virtual region setter 236 and allow the main brush driver 272 andthe side-brush driver 273 to perform cleaning while traveling.

In a case in which the virtual region is set, since movement of the maindevice 200 is restricted to be within the virtual region, the maindevice 200 may be prevented from moving out of the divided regionintended by the user.

The cleaning controller 235 may also allow the driving wheel driver 271to perform autonomous traveling outside the virtual region set by thevirtual region setter 236 and allow the main brush driver 272 and theside-brush driver 273 to perform cleaning while traveling. Here, whetherautonomous traveling is performed within the virtual region or outsidethe virtual region may be selected by the user through UI. The virtualregion setter 236 may also set the virtual region in accordance with auser command. A method of setting the virtual region in accordance witha user command will be described below with reference to FIG. 27.

Hereinafter, a detailed process in which the movement path generator 232of the main device controller 230 generates the movement path, thevirtual wall setter 234 sets the virtual wall, and the virtual regionsetter 235 sets the virtual region according to one embodiment will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 22 to 28.

FIGS. 22 and 23 are exemplary views for describing a method of setting amovement path of a main device set by a movement path generator and atarget point of the main device.

Referring to FIG. 22, for a main device 200 to move to the dividedregion Z2, which is designated in accordance with a user command, from apoint on a map image at which the main device 200 is currently present,a movement path generator 232 sets a target point within the designateddivided region Z2.

For moving the main device 200 to the target point, the movement pathgenerator 232 may set a movement path so that the main device 200 movesupward by a first distance, moves rightward by a second distance, movesupward again by a third distance, and then moves rightward by a fourthdistance. Since a method of setting the first to fourth distances as theshortest possible distances is a known technique, descriptions thereofwill be omitted.

In this case, a remote device UI 110 may display a position of the maindevice 200 in real time and also display a generated movement path.

Referring to FIG. 23, a target point Pd may be a central point of adivided region Z2 selected by a user from a map image, or may be a pointfarthest from surrounding obstacles P1 to P4 within the divided regionZ2.

The target point Pd may also be a point that is the closest to thecentral point of the divided region Z2 selected by the user from the mapimage and farthest from surrounding obstacles P1 to P4 within thedivided region Z2.

The target point Pd may also be any one point that is present within thedivided region Z2 selected by the user from the map image and theclosest to the current position of the main device 200. In addition, thetarget point Pd may also be various other points within the dividedregion Z2.

FIG. 24 is an exemplary view of a virtual wall set by a virtual wallsetter, and FIG. 25 is a view for describing a process in which a maindevice performs cleaning in a divided region of an actual space to becleaned in a case in which the virtual wall is set.

Referring to FIG. 24, a virtual wall setter 234 may set a virtual wallW1 in the vicinity of a region dividing point corresponding to a dividedregion Z2 selected by a user from the map image. The virtual wall W1 mayinclude a point at which the region dividing point is formed.

Referring to FIG. 25, after a virtual wall W1 is set, a cleaningcontroller 235 may control a main device 200 to perform autonomoustraveling and cleaning, and the main device 200 may thoroughly performcleaning within the region intended by a user by a partition Z2R thatsurrounds a divided region of the actual space to be cleaned and thevirtual wall W1, which is set by a virtual wall setter 234.

As an example, in a case in which cleaning is performed in a specificdivided region Z2-1, which was not sensed due to an obstacle when a mapimage was generated, after the obstacle is removed therefrom, the maindevice 200 may also perform cleaning in the specific divided region Z2-1by autonomous traveling.

In a case in which the main device 200 performs cleaning whileautonomously traveling in real time, a cleaning controller 236 mayremove a path through which the main device 200 has already passed inreal time.

The main device controller 230 according to another embodiment mayfurther include the virtual region setter 236. FIGS. 26 and 27 areexemplary views of a virtual region set by a virtual region setterautomatically or manually.

Referring to FIG. 26, a virtual region setter 236 may set a virtualregion W2 having a boundary spaced a preset reference distance (e.g., 30cm) apart from a divided region Z2 selected by the user from the mapimage. In this case, in accordance with control of a cleaning controller235, a main device 200 autonomously travels and performs cleaning withinthe virtual region W2 set by the virtual region setter 236.

Even in this case, the cleaning controller 235 may restrict movement ofthe main device 200 at a virtual wall W1 in a case in which the maindevice 200 approaches the virtual wall W1 set by a virtual wall setter234. In a case in which the virtual region W2 is generated, the virtualwall W1 set by the virtual wall setter 234 may also be removed.

Referring to FIG. 27, a virtual region setter 236 may also set a virtualregion manually in accordance with a user command.

By performing drag-and-drop from any one point of a map image displayedon a remote device UI 110 to another point thereon, a user U maydesignate a virtual region forming a certain figure. In accordance withcontrol of the cleaning controller 235, the main device 200 mayautonomously travel and perform cleaning within the virtual region W2set by the virtual region setter 236.

In addition, the user U may also designate the virtual region by amethod of drawing a closed loop at any one point of the map imagedisplayed on the remote device UI 110.

Although it has been described in the above-described embodiment thatonly the virtual region W2 is set in accordance with a user command, thevirtual wall W1 may also be set in accordance with a user command. Inaddition, a plurality of virtual walls W1 may be set.

FIG. 28 is an exemplary view of a plurality of virtual walls set inaccordance with a user command.

By performing drag-and-drop from any one point of a map image displayedon a remote device UI 110 to another point thereon, a user U maydesignate virtual walls W3 and W4 formed in a straight line or a curveon the map image.

The plurality of virtual walls W3 and W4 may be designated.

In this case, a main device 200 may autonomously travel in accordancewith control of a cleaning controller 235, but in a case in which themain device 200 approaches any one of the plurality of virtual walls W3and W4, traveling of the main device 200 to the corresponding virtualwall W3 or W4 may be restricted.

In a case in which it is determined that the main device 200 hascompleted traveling in all paths, the cleaning controller 235 controls amain device driver 270 to stop traveling, and a movement path generator232 removes a virtual wall and a virtual region.

The movement path generator 232 sets a target point in the next dividedregion in accordance with a set cleaning order, and generates a movementpath to the target point.

Like the target point described above, the target point in the nextdivided region may also be at least one of a central point of thedivided region, a point farthest from surrounding obstacles, and any onepoint that is present within the next divided region and the closest tothe current position of the main device 200.

Although it has been described in the above-described embodiment that aposition determiner 231, the movement path generator 232, the movementcontroller 233, a virtual wall setter 234, the cleaning controller 235,and the virtual region setter 236 are implemented as separate modulesthat implement different functions, embodiments are not necessarilylimited thereto, and at least two or more of the position determiner231, the movement path generator 232, the movement controller 233, thevirtual wall setter 234, the cleaning controller 235, and the virtualregion setter 236 may be implemented in a single module. In addition,although it has been described in the above-described embodiment thatthe position determiner 231, the movement path generator 232, themovement controller 233, the virtual wall setter 234, the cleaningcontroller 235, and the virtual region setter 236 are implemented in themain device 200, each of the elements may also be implemented in aremote device 100, and in this case, sensor values of the main devicesensor unit 260 and a control signal for controlling the main devicedriver 270 may be transmitted and received through the remote devicecommunication unit 120 and the main device communication unit 220.

Hereinafter, a method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according toone embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 29. FIG. 29 is aflowchart of a method of controlling the cleaning robot according to oneembodiment.

The reference numerals of the elements described with reference to FIGS.1 to 28 will be referenced for reference numerals of the elements of thecleaning robot 1 which will be described with reference to FIG. 29.

In a method of controlling a cleaning robot 1 according to oneembodiment, at least one divided region is designated by a user (S1110).

The designating of the divided region may be performed by a remotedevice input unit 111 of a remote device UI 110.

In the method of controlling the cleaning robot 1, a plurality ofdivided regions may be designated by a user, and in this case, a remotedevice controller 130 may store an order in which the divided regionsare designated in a remote device storage unit 140.

Next, in the method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according to oneembodiment, an outline display attribute of the designated dividedregion is changed (S1120). In the method of controlling the cleaningrobot 1 according to another embodiment, a name display attribute of thedesignated divided region may be changed.

As an example, the changing of the outline display attribute may includechanging color of the outline of the designated region or displaying theoutline in bolt font, and the changing of the name display attribute mayinclude changing color of a displayed name or displaying the name inbold font.

The changing of the outline display attribute or the name displayattribute of the divided region includes changing an outline or name ofa designated region displayed on a remote device display unit 112 by theremote device controller 130.

Next, in the method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according to oneembodiment, a main device moving command is received from a user(S1130).

The receiving of the main device moving command may include receiving a“start cleaning” command from the user by a remote device input unit111. A separate start moving command may also be received in accordancewith an implementation form of an application.

Next, in the method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according to oneembodiment, an animation and a message, which indicate that the maindevice 200 is moving, are output (S1140).

In a case in which the remote device communication unit 120 receives a“moving” state value from the main device 200, the outputting of theanimation and message may include displaying a translucent layer over amap image by the remote device display unit 112 and displaying ananimation from which the user may intuitively recognize that the maindevice 200 is moving.

In a case in which the remote device communication unit 120 receives the“moving” state value from the main device 200, the remote device displayunit 112 may also display a movement path of the main device 200.

The outputting of the animation and message may include re-changing theoutline display attribute of the designated divided region. Theoutputting of the animation and message may include re-changing the namedisplay attribute of the designated divided region.

As an example, the re-changing of the outline display attribute mayinclude restoring the outline display attribute of the designated regionto that prior to changes being made, and the re-changing of the namedisplay attribute may include restoring the name display attribute ofthe designated region to that prior to changes being made. However, there-changing of the outline display attribute or the name displayattribute may also be performed in a case in which a “cleaningcompleted” state value is received, which will be described below.

Next, in the method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according to oneembodiment, a main device cleaning command is received from a user(S1150).

In a case in which receiving a main device moving command includesreceiving the “start cleaning” command from the user, the receiving ofthe main device cleaning command may be omitted.

The receiving of the main device cleaning command from the user may beperformed by the remote device input unit 111.

Next, in the method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according to oneembodiment, an icon, which indicates that the main device 200 isperforming cleaning, is displayed, and a message indicating the same isoutput (S1160).

In a case in which the remote device communication unit 120 receives the“cleaning” state value from the main device 200, the displaying of theicon may include displaying a “cleaning” icon (for example, a hollowcircular icon) above the name of the designated region by the remotedevice display unit 112. In addition, the displaying of the icon mayinclude displaying the “cleaning” icon in the form of an animation thatmoves within a designated region 410.

Next, in the method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according to oneembodiment, whether an error has occurred in the main device 200 isdetermined (S1170).

The determining of whether an error has occurred includes receiving an“error occurrence” state value from the main device 200.

Next, in the method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according to oneembodiment, in a case in which an error has occurred, i.e., the erroroccurrence state value is received, the “error occurrence” icon isdisplayed and an error occurrence message is output (S1180).

The displaying of the error occurrence icon may include, for example,displaying an exclamation mark icon above the name of the divided regionin which an error has occurred.

Next, in the method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according to oneembodiment, in a case in which an error did not occur, i.e., the erroroccurrence state value is not received, whether cleaning is completed isdetermined (S1190).

The determining of whether cleaning is completed includes receiving a“cleaning completed” state value from the main device 200 by the remotedevice communication unit 120.

Next, in the method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according to oneembodiment, in a case in which cleaning is completed, i.e., the cleaningcompleted state value is received, a “cleaning completed” icon isdisplayed, and a cleaning completed message is output (S1200).

The displaying of the cleaning completed icon may include, for example,displaying a check icon above the name of the divided region in whichcleaning is completed.

In the method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according to oneembodiment, in a case in which cleaning is not completed, i.e., thecleaning completed state value is not received, the determining ofwhether an error has occurred (S1170) is performed again.

Although the case in which any one divided region is designated has beendescribed in the above-described embodiment, a plurality of dividedregions may be designated by the user, and a cleaning order of thedivided regions may be designated. In this case, in the method ofcontrolling the cleaning robot 1, the main device may be allowed to moveand perform cleaning in accordance with the designated cleaning order,and various remote device UIs 110 may be implemented in accordance witha user command or a state value of the main device 200.

Hereinafter, a method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according toanother embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 30. FIG. 30is a flowchart of a method of controlling the cleaning robot accordingto another embodiment.

The reference numerals of the elements described with reference to FIGS.1 to 28 will be referenced for reference numerals of the elements of thecleaning robot 1 which will be described with reference to FIG. 30.

In a method of controlling a cleaning robot 1 according to anotherembodiment, position information related to the current position of amain device 200 is received from a main device sensor unit 260, and acurrent position of the main device 200 is matched with a map image(S2110).

In this case, the map image may be pre-stored in a main device storageunit 240 or pre-stored in a remote device storage unit 140. The mapimage includes information on one or more divided regions andinformation on a region dividing point of each divided region.

For example, in a case in which a space to be cleaned is a home, adivided region may correspond to a room, and a region dividing point maycorrespond to a door of the room.

The matching of the current position of the main device 200 with the mapimage may be performed by a position determiner 231 of a main devicecontroller 230 or may also be performed by a remote device controller130.

In a case in which the matching is performed by the remote devicecontroller 130, a remote device communication unit 120 may receiveposition information of the main device 200 from a main devicecommunication unit 220, and transmit the received position informationto the remote device controller 130.

Then, in the method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according toanother embodiment, at least one divided region is received as a targetdivided region from a user through a remote device UI 110 (S2120).

Here, the remote device UI 110 may directly receive the target dividedregion from the user or receive a cleaning order of a plurality ofdivided regions.

Then, in the method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according toanother embodiment, a target point is set within the divided regionselected by the user, and a movement path of the main device 200 to theset target point is generated (S2130).

The target point within the divided region selected by the user may beany one of a central point of the selected divided region, a pointfarthest from surrounding obstacles within the selected divided region,and any one point that is present within the selected divided region andthe closest to the current position of the main device 200.

The setting of the target point and generating of the movement path maybe performed by a movement path generator 232 of the main devicecontroller 230 or may also be performed by the remote device controller130.

In a case in which the setting of the target point and generating of themovement path are performed by the movement path generator 232 of themain device controller 230, the main device communication unit 220 mayreceive a user command from the remote device communication unit 120,and transmit the received user command to the movement path generator232.

Next, in the method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according to oneembodiment, the main device 200 is moved to the target point (S2140).

In a case in which the main device 200 is moved to the target point, themain device 200 may pass through a region dividing point.

The moving of the main device 200 to the target point may be performedby a moving controller 233 of the main device controller 230 or may alsobe performed by the remote device controller 130.

In a case in which the moving of the main device 200 to the target pointis performed by the moving controller 233 of the main device controller230, the moving controller 233 may control the driving wheel driver 271of a main device driver 270 to move the main device 200 along thegenerated movement path.

In a case in which the moving of the main device 200 to the target pointis performed by the remote device controller 130, a control signalgenerated by the remote device controller 130 may be transmitted to themain device communication unit 220 via the remote device communicationunit 120, and the main device communication unit 220 may transmit thereceived control signal to the driving wheel driver 271 of the maindevice driver 270.

Next, in the method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according to oneembodiment, in a case in which the main device 200 is present at thetarget point, a virtual wall is set (S2150).

For example, the virtual wall may be set to include a region dividingpoint of a selected divided region, i.e., a divided region on a mapimage in which the main device 200 is present.

The virtual wall may also be manually set in accordance with a usercommand.

The setting of the virtual wall may be performed by the virtual wallsetter 234 of the main device controller 230 or may also be performed bythe remote device controller 130.

Information on the virtual wall may be stored in the main device storageunit 240 or the remote device storage unit 140.

The method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according to anotherembodiment may further include setting a virtual region in a case inwhich the main device 200 is present at the target point.

The virtual region may be automatically set to have a boundary spaced apreset reference distance apart from the divided region in which themain device 200 is present, or may also be manually set by the user.

The setting of the virtual region may be performed by the virtual regionsetter 236 of the main device controller 230 or may also be performed bythe remote device controller 130.

Information on the virtual region may be stored in the main devicestorage unit 240 or the remote device storage unit 140.

Next, in the method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 according to oneembodiment, the main device 200 is controlled to start cleaning (S2160).

The controlling of the main device 200 to start cleaning may includecontrolling the driving wheel driver 271 of the main device driver 270by the cleaning controller 235 of the main device controller 230 tocontrol the main device 200 to perform autonomous traveling, andcontrolling the main brush driver 272 and the side-brush driver 273 ofthe main device driver 270 by the cleaning controller 235 to control themain device 200 to perform cleaning while traveling.

The controlling of the main device 200 to start cleaning may also beperformed by the remote device controller 130. In this case, controlsignals for respectively controlling the driving wheel driver 271, themain brush driver 272, and the side-brush driver 273 may be generated bythe remote device controller 130 and transmitted to the driving wheeldriver 271, the main brush driver 272, and the side-brush driver 273 viathe remote device communication unit 120 and the main devicecommunication unit 220.

The method of controlling the cleaning robot 1 may further include, in acase in which it is determined that cleaning is completed in the dividedregion selected by the user, stopping the cleaning performance,determining the next divided region, setting the target point in thenext divided region, and generating the movement path.

The descriptions given above are merely exemplary descriptions of thetechnical spirit of the present disclosure, and one of ordinary skill inthe art should be able to make various modifications, changes, andsubstitutions to the present disclosure within the scope not departingfrom the essential features of the present disclosure. Therefore, theembodiments disclosed above and the accompanying drawings are fordescribing the technical spirit of the present disclosure instead oflimiting the same, and the scope of the technical spirit of the presentdisclosure is not limited by such embodiments and accompanying drawings.The scope of the technical spirit of the present disclosure should beinterpreted from the claims below, and all technical spirits within thescope equivalent thereto should be construed as belonging to the scopeof the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cleaning robot comprising: a body; a wheelassembly configured to move the body; a brush unit configured to performcleaning on a bottom surface of a moving path; a communicator configuredto communicate with a remote device; and a controller configured to:determine a virtual region based on a user input received through theremote device, and control the wheel assembly and the brush unit toclean a region excluding the virtual region among a cleanable region. 2.The cleaning robot of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured todetermine a region among the cleanable region corresponding to a regionselected by a user from a map image of the cleanable region as thevirtual region.
 3. The cleaning robot of claim 2, wherein the user inputis received by drag and drop in the map image.
 4. The cleaning robot ofclaim 2, wherein the controller is configured to control the wheelassembly to limit entry into the virtual region.
 5. The cleaning robotof claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to control the wheelassembly to autonomously travel in the region other than the virtualregion among the cleanable region.
 6. The cleaning robot of claim 2,wherein the virtual region comprises a space in a virtual wall forming aclosed loop.
 7. The cleaning robot of claim 2, wherein the controller isfurther configured to: divide the cleanable region into at least onedivided region based on a structure of the cleanable region, generatethe map image comprising the at least one divided region, and controlthe communicator to transmit the map image to the remote device.
 8. Thecleaning robot of claim 2, wherein the controller is further configuredto determine at least one virtual wall that restricts passage in thecleanable region based on a user input received through the remotedevice.
 9. The cleaning robot of claim 8, wherein the controller isfurther configured to control the wheel assembly and the brush unit toclean a region of the cleanable region before passing through the atleast one virtual wall.
 10. The cleaning robot of claim 8, wherein theat least one virtual wall is formed in a straight line or a curve linein the cleanable region.
 11. A remote device comprising: a communicatorconfigured to communicate with a cleaning robot; a user interfaceconfigured to: display a map image of a cleanable region, and receiveinput from a user; and a controller configured to control thecommunicator to transmit information about a virtual region to thecleaning robot in response to receiving the input for the virtual regionrestricting cleaning of the cleaning robot in the map image.
 12. Theremote device of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configuredto determine the virtual region based on drag and drop in the map image.13. The remote device of claim 11, wherein the virtual region is formedas a closed loop in the cleanable region.
 14. The remote device of claim11, wherein the controller is further configured to transmit informationabout at least one virtual wall to the cleaning robot in response toreceiving input for the at least one virtual wall that restricts passageof the cleaning robot in the map image.
 15. The remote device of claim14, wherein the at least one virtual wall is formed in a straight lineor a curve line in the cleanable region.
 16. The remote device of claim11, wherein the controller is further configured to control the userinterface to display the map image as at least one divided area in whichthe cleanable region is divided based on a structure of the cleanableregion.
 17. A cleaning robot control system comprising: a cleaningrobot; and a remote device configured to receive input from a user andcommunicate with the cleaning robot, wherein the cleaning robot isconfigured to: determine a virtual region based on input receivedthrough the remote device, and clean a region excluding the virtualregion among a cleanable region.
 18. The cleaning robot control systemof claim 17, wherein the remote device is configured to receive theinput for the virtual region based on drag and drop in a map image forthe cleanable region.
 19. The cleaning robot control system of claim 17,wherein the cleaning robot is configured to restrict entry into thevirtual region.
 20. The cleaning robot control system of claim 17,wherein the cleaning robot is further configured to: determine at leastone virtual wall that restricts passage in the cleanable region based oninput received through the remote device, and control a wheel assemblyand a brush unit to clean a region of the cleanable region beforepassing through the at least one virtual wall.
 21. A cleaning robotcomprising: a body; a wheel assembly configured to move the body; abrush unit configured to perform cleaning on a bottom surface of amoving path; a communicator configured to communicate with a remotedevice; and a controller configured to: generate a map corresponding toa cleanable area; transmit, via the communicator, the map to the remotedevice; receiving, from the remote device, a user input on the mapcorresponding to the cleanable area; based on the user input receivedvia the remote device, identify a virtual region in the map to beexcluded during cleaning; and after the virtual region in the map isidentified, control the wheel assembly and the brush unit to performcleaning with respect to a first portion of the cleanable area withoutcleaning with respect to a second portion of the cleanable areacorresponding to the virtual region of the map.
 22. The cleaning robotof claim 21, wherein the remote device is configured to provide a userinterface for displaying the map corresponding to the cleanable areagenerated by the cleaning robot and for receiving a user input to dragand drop the virtual region over an area of the displayed map to beexcluded during cleaning.